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Workers’Rights as a Context for Studying the Industrial Revolution

Phyllis Berlin-Pelky

Academic Setting

Rio Rancho High School opened is 1997, and is therefore a relatively new school. Last year it was the largest high school in New Mexico with approximately 3,300 students. Philosophically, Rio Rancho High School is based on Breaking Ranks: Changing an American Institution. Some programs that were instituted based on Breaking Ranks were the 90 block class, so that a teacher has only 90 students in one day; a Humanities class, which combines English and Social Studies; and Credentialling, a program which pairs staff members up with about 20 students. The Credentialling staff member is the contact for the parents at the school and is responsible for making sure no students are lost in the large school atmosphere. Parent-teacher conferences with the Credentialling staff member have replaced the ill-attended open house. Therefore, there is a supportive environment for the most part focused on the needs of students.

I teach Regular 10th grade Humanities at Rio Rancho High School. Humanities 10 is a course that combines 10th grade English with World History. Since this is a regular education setting, the class really focuses on the basic standard for education in our system. The first semester is Western Civilization and the second semester covers the non-western world. My students are all sophomores, and most have chosen to be in the Humanities Academy; they are interested in pursuing careers in the humanities, such as writing, journalism, law, sociology, teaching, and counseling. Slightly more than half (57%) are female; and approximately 5% are Asian, 5% African American, 10% Native American, 30% Hispanic, and the remaining 50% are Caucasian. The first semester is a chronological account of Western civilization, ending at the Industrial Revolution. I would like students to have a firm understanding of how industrialization has shaped the modern world so that when they return after winter break and study the non-western world, much of which is not industrialized or only partially industrialized, they can compare these lifestyles with their own.

Even though they may not realize it, my students are greatly affected by the Industrial Revolution, from the migration to cities, to the immigrant background many of them have, to the production systems that allow them to afford CD players and cars, to their very presence in the classroom. Therefore, the Industrial Revolution has had a major impact on the lives of the students in my classroom, just as it changed Western civilization as a whole.

            By focusing on how industrialization has changed society as a whole and, in particular, its definitions of fairness and justice, I hope to accomplish the following goals: students will understand the sometimes contrasting themes of individual rights vs. public welfare; students will be able to understand the influences on their own views about fairness, the family, and the role of government; students will understand the struggles of non-industrialized and newly industrialized nations; students will understand the mechanisms of the distribution of wealth in capitalist and communist theory and society. To demonstrate these goals are the following objectives: students will write from the viewpoint of a 19th century worker and will discuss the lives of 19th century workers in comparison with their own. We will examine from the standpoint of worker relations the conflict perspective of sociology.

Context and Background

Two movements that most affected the way humans live today are the Agricultural Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. The Agricultural Revolution, a period of thousands of years where various societies were moving from hunting and gathering to farming, created lives that were no longer nomadic, but sedentary. That is beyond the scope of this curriculum, but I believe it worthy of mention for contrast. The Industrial Revolution caused change on much the same scale; most of Western civilization changed from being largely agrarian to mainly urban. This created many unique problems for Western civilization. Workers’rights will be the framework for studying the Industrial Revolution, but first there is some developmental background that must be understood.

Factors Contributing to the Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was neither; that is neither strictly industrial, nor a quick transition, as the word revolution implies. It had many contributing factors over the century and a half on which I intend to focus (Rubenstein 371). This curriculum is intended for the time period of 1769, when James Watt invented the steam engine, to 1900. While many interconnected events led to the end result of the Industrial Revolution, this unit is defined as the reliance on factories and railroads. To understand the social changes, students must be aware of the scientific and technological events that led the Industrial Revolution. This section explains those advances. For a visual guide, see Table 1.

Steam Engine

In ancient times, the fact that water expanded in volume when boiled was well known, but no one had been able to harness that expansive force effectively. In 1769 James Watt of Glasgow, Scotland patented the steam engine, which connected a chamber of boiling water to a piston. On a very basic level, the water turned to steam and expanded, the force from the steam moved a piston, which in turn, created a reciprocal movement that could propel a machine. This was an efficient and readily available power source that set the stage for inventing a variety of useful machines.

Iron

To create machines, however, requires some material to make them from. Again, iron was used in ancient times, but on a small scale, due to the lack of a heat source that would remain both hot enough and sustain that heat. The steam engine provided the power source needed to make iron use practical. In 1783 Henry Cort of England patented two processes of removing the impurities of iron ore, thereby making iron readily available.

Coal/Coke

The steam engine, however, also need a fuel source, and wood was becoming more and more scarce, due to its use in building ships, furniture, etc. Abraham Darby of England used coke, purified carbon made from coal, which was abundant and inexpensive, to make high quality iron.

            The stage was therefore set: the steam engine to provide the power and drive the machinery, the iron to build machinery and the coal to drive the steam engine and smelt the iron. Watt, of course, took great advantage of these circumstances and in 1795 established the Soho Foundry, a business that repaired machines, invented new machines, and applied existing machines to new functions. Many new inventions came forth from both Watt and other inventors at the time.

Railroad

Another important invention of the time was the railroad. One locomotive was invented in 1784, but was impractical due to the difficulty of riding on the rough cobblestone and bumpy roads. The idea of using iron rails was met with concern about the train being derailed. Finally, in 1812 rims were put on the train and the first public railroad was opened in 1825 in England. The Rocket, as it was named, went an astonishing 24 miles per hour, beating a horse in a race.

            The dispersion of the Industrial Revolution followed the train tracks from there. Materials, as well as ideas and methods, took the train.

Textiles

Besides iron smelters, factories at first produced textiles. Richard Arkwright invented two machines that cut the labor to turn cotton plants into cloth. The Spinning Jenny had been invented in 1764 and did the work of eight spinning wheels, but Arkwright was the first to mechanize steps in the process. Edmund Cartwrights’invention of the power loom in 1785 and the cotton gin in 1792 by Eli Whitney would streamline this process further.

Chemicals

After the textiles were produced, they still needed to be bleached and dyed. These needs were filled by discoveries from the chemical sector. After much experimenting, Charles Tennant of Glasgow, Scotland, discovered that chlorine gas and lime made a far safer bleaching agent than the sulfuric acid that had been used. Sulfuric acid was still used, however, to create dyes by mixing it with various metals; with copper a blue dye, with iron a green dye, and with zinc a white dye. In America, few industries besides textiles used the industrial processes, and the rotation of workers at the factories often reflected the immigration waves (see migration below).

            Further needs were met by the chemical industry in regards to food. Since factory workers were no longer growing their own food, new methods of preservation were needed. Drying, fermenting, and pickling were ancient, but slow methods. In 1810 Nicolas Appert of France developed canning using air-tight jars to store food that was boiled until sterilized. Peter Durand improved on this in 1839 by using tin cans, which were cheaper and easier to handle. Then the process itself was improved in 1861 with the discovery that calcium chloride raised the temperature of the boiling water and decreased the time needed from 4-5 hours to 25-40 minutes (Rubenstein 374). The manufacture of canned food increased tenfold that same year.

            Having set the stage for industrialization, students will then examine society's reaction to these scientific and technological advances.

The Conflict of Workers and Management

Individual vs. Community

Before discussing workers’rights, students must be made aware of the balance of the individual and the community. On the one hand, there were institutional limits placed on various governments to protect the rights of individuals as seen in the Constitution of the United States of America (1786), the Magna Carta (1215) and Bill of Rights (1689) in England, and the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789) in France (Germany was not completely unified before becoming industrialized). Therefore, individual liberties were increasingly valued prior to industrialization. These government limitations would expand to business limitations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries as workers increasingly sought protection.   There is also, however, recognition that individuals must at times sacrifice for the "greater good," or the community at large. In an agrarian society, the cottage industries, many of which were replaced by industrialization, relied on a focus on the whole to the benefit of the individual. In textiles, for example, a company would give cloth to a family, who would make clothes and get paid by the piece. In this model the father and mother were the bosses as well the labor and any other family members able to work contributed to that labor (Steele). Therefore, community was stressed over the individual for the benefit of all individuals. In other non-agrarian sectors, the business was small, and the owner knew all employees personally. Contact was more personal and questions of individual problems could be resolved directly with the boss. Again, the worker could see the benefits of work and could understand the sacrifice of time for wages, to his/her own benefit. Since personally acquainted with the boss, if s/he felt s/he was being treated unfairly or paid below his/her worth, or if the boss was acquiring too much of the worker's earned profits, these problems could be resolved directly with the boss, or the employee could leave.

In the question of workers’rights, however, there is increasingly a difference of individual vs. individual, e.g. the worker vs. management. While all individuals must create a working community for the benefit of the whole in the form of profits, the worker and the management are progressively alienated, either by physical distance, as some owners of large factories didn't even live in the same town, or by technical control, which will be discussed presently (Edwards 20). Due to mechanization, productivity became more effective and this created a large surplus of profits.    At first, both the worker and the management benefited from the increase, and the community was thus served as well. As the labor pool increased, however, the management kept more of the profits and the worker was barely able to survive. This caused conflict between the owner and the worker. The sense of community was lessened and the struggle is put in the context of the conflict perspective, the conflict being the fight between worker and owner to control the limited resources, that is production and profits. A new community, however, was created, that of the worker, and in the form of strikes and resistance, the issue of individual rights and public welfare can again be addressed.

The Change to Indirect Management

The Industrial Revolution and the creation of factories greatly changed the relation of the worker to their employers. The previous avenues of personal redress of grievances were eliminated, as the workers were alienated from the owners by mechanization and a series of foremen, overseers and supervisors. In order to get concerns addressed, workers started to form unions. These unions saw some success for the worker, and in order to regain control of business, owners tried several tactics including, welfare capitalism and Taylorism (Steele 429).

Welfare capitalism was the paternalistic style of management that offered workers benefits such as clothing, housing, and very little pay. This had many advantages for the owners. They could justify the low pay by providing housing, which was inferior; clothing, which would readily identify workers in the wrong part of town; and low quality food. This saved money for them and gave the appearance of taking care of their workers. Welfare capitalism did have some benefits for the worker, however, as some factories employed women who were old enough to be productive, but not ready to marry. They gave the women room and board, satisfied families by providing supervision and curfews, as well as strict controls on dancing, swearing, and immodesty (Dulles 71), and satisfied owners, because they could pay women less than men.

            Another benefit to workers under the welfare capitalism system was an increase in leisure time. Since machines improved productivity, workers could earn wages and profit for the company with fewer hours. Therefore, there were hours in the day left over for leisure. This promoted the organization of recreational sports, such as football (soccer), which evolved to rugby and American football (Rubenstein 124). Baseball, basketball, and bowling followed similar paths. To sum up, while welfare capitalism was used to exploit workers to some degree, workers also enjoyed many luxuries that had not been previously available.

Taylorism was another way for the owners to regain control over production and profits. In order to lower costs and increase production, Taylorism offered a barrier between owners and workers based on scientific reason by breaking work down into smaller jobs that could be performed over and over by the same employee and imposing quotas. Therefore, workers’social interaction and down time was reduced by the quotas and the workers tended to blame the quota itself before looking to those who mandated it (Steele 430).

            An extension of Taylorism, technical control, created further distance between employees and management. With the technical control style of management, the production process became mechanized and workers simply tended the machine, an unskilled job (Edwards 20). For example, a conveyor belt was employed to move a product down the line, and each employee was responsible for a single part on the product, adding only that part all day long to each of the product. For management, this required fewer supervisors, and those supervisors had less contact with workers. Workers’frustrations were directed first at the machines, which monopolized their time and improved their efficiency (Steele 430). Technical control had the effect of lowering leverage for workers and consequently, their standard of living.

Management was able to successfully use these techniques due to another phenomena: migration. There was an overabundance of labor. Unions could not strike very efficiently, as there were many others ready and willing to work under the factories’conditions. These workers came from various sources, including movement from rural farms, increases in population and American immigration.

Migration Within to Urbanization

People moved from farms to factories changing the landscape from rural to urban. This was largely a fluid movement as members of families often returned to farms and back to the factory (Dulles and Dubofsky 72). However, as owners of farms often encouraged their children to sell the farm and move to the city for greater opportunity, more entire families began to move permanently, increasing the labor pool (Hareven 18, 20).

Immigration

Industrialization doubled the population in Europe between 1800 and 1900 due to improved hygiene and public sanitation, less disease, increased commerce that led to larger food supply and better nutrition (Gelbard, Haub and Kent). This provided European manufacturers with a large labor pool. Workers who wanted more opportunities had to go to America, where immigration contributed to the more than twelvefold population increase from 1800 to 1900 (Gelbard, Haub and Kent).

The waves of immigration from Europe to America, not surprisingly, reflect the industrial needs of America. When the business sector needed cheap labor, the immigration laws became lenient, and when there were too many workers, the laws were again restricted. This provided an outlet for Europe's overpopulation (Rubenstein 96), as population increased with the industrial revolution. America could accommodate these immigrants in part due to rapid expansion of industry, but also because of the large land mass, as some could move west. This large labor force allowed owners to control the terms of workers as well as the pay. Workers had little influence over their work situation.

            In addition to economic opportunity, dire situations also promoted immigration to America. The potato famine in Ireland in the 1840's caused many Irish to come to America. Since such a flood of Irish occurred in a historically British country, they were discriminated against. It was not uncommon to see signs such as "Dogs and Irish not allowed" or "Irish need not apply" (Riis 18).

            A second peak of immigration came in the late 19th century. In addition to the large number of Irish, there were also Italians, French Canadians, Polish and Russian immigrants, including Jews. While often segregating themselves into culturally homogenous communities, there was enough contact with groups that had differing value systems as to create problems. For example, in Amoskeag, the French Canadians referred to some Greeks as licheux, when explaining they brought the bosses gifts to stay on their good sides (Hareven 69).    Another problem was the ease with which foreign factory workers consumed alcohol. This prompted legislation to curb alcoholism in the form of the temperance movement in America.

            Amoskeag is also a reference to show the waves of immigration in New England, and workers found themselves stratified by ethnicity. Amoskeag illustrates that the immigrants that arrived later were the lowest social class, as earlier ethnicities became assimilated (Hareven 18). At first hiring girls in a paternalistic setting, the progression to the Irish, then Scots, French Canadians, Greeks, and Poles could be easily demonstrated in the interviews. The self-seclusion and cultural differences are also clearly illustrated in How the other Half Lives.

            Therefore management had so much control over the production and profits that workers could barely survive. Welfare capitalism continued to decline, as corporations had enough labor to lower the standard without providing the benefits of an earlier time. Workers, however, had to find a way to gain more control. When management employed technical control, they did not foresee the help this would provide to workers. By creating unskilled jobs, they initially took the power out of the hands of craftsmen, but created a large number of workers with much in common. They had approximately the same work experiences, same pay, and same frustrations. In addition, any one or a few number of workers could hold up the entire production process. The result of this homogenization was the formation of large and powerful unions, who, in the next century, would be more effective in creating a higher standard of living for employees. Therefore, union membership increased significantly. The unions would organize strikes, which often turned into bloody affairs. For as the owners had the labor pool to hire more workers, the strikers had to create some deterrent for those workers. Often riots were the result with “scabs” crossing the picket lines and striking workers fighting. This was satisfactory neither to the worker, who had to go without pay for possibly weeks or months, nor for the owners, who lost profits, nor even for the society at large, who had to deal with increased violence and crime.

Changing Concept of the Family

The struggle for control between labor and management created other situations concerning the view of the family. Pre-industry relied on all members of the family to contribute whether on the farm or in cottage industry. These families tended to be extended families, as farms were often inherited and it was relatively easy to build an extra room for relatives in need. Also, farming required a lot of labor, and farmers could often not afford to hire seasonal workers. In a city, however, especially an overcrowded city due to population increases (see above), the demand for housing restricted the ability of extended families to stay together. In New York City, for example, five families that totaled "twenty persons of both sexes and all ages, with only two beds, without partition, screen, chair, or table" lived in one room (Riis 8) by 1900. These restrictions had the effect of shrinking the number of family members that could live together. At the same time, the size of the nuclear family decreased (Hopkins 319), and increasing mobility of families further disconnected families and individuals. Therefore, since the nuclear family came first, the idea of what constituted a family changed. As workers gained more control and independence, they could afford more space, but did not revert to the extended family, often because each family unit could by then support itself.

The view of women and children specifically also changed. On the one hand, men did not want to lose their jobs to a woman who would earn less, but also wanted the income their own wives could provide. The same dilemma appeared for children, who earned less, but could provide valuable income to a family.

Women's Rights in the Context of Workers’ Rights

Women who earned their own income had a measure of independence, and industrialization and the willingness of owners to hire women for less increased women's economic power. As women saw workers struggle for rights against management, counted their own earnings, and were proud of their own abilities to provide for their families, sometimes as the sole income provider, they began to demand political rights as well. Many feminist movements began in the 19th century.

            Women’rights directly reflected the growth of industrialization. The countries that were industrialized sooner, England, the German kingdoms, and the United States, were the first places women began to organize (Robertson 351). Women faced opposition in seeking the right to vote, with such arguments as they influenced men’s votes already, they were too good for government, and the idea that it was immoral and would undermine not just politics, but marriage as well (Robertson 347). In Germany, voting was the least important part of the women’s organizations, viewing it as nearly impossible until they won rights in education and work. Though some German women writers argued that if women had the vote, the rest would follow, they were in the minority (Robertson 387). They may have also faced difficulty in organizing, as German-speaking lands were divided into Prussia, Austria, and other duchies until Bismarck created the German empire in 1871, and scoffed at women’s rights. In England, John Stuart Mill wrote The Subjugation of Women and was a political champion of women’s suffrage (Robertson 524).

Of the earliest obstacles women faced was the association of economic freedom and sexual freedom. Most women in pre-industrial times who were truly independent were prostitutes, and women seeking rights were often accused of being promiscuous (Robertson 349) or sexually repressed (Robertson 522). While it was acceptable for men to have extra-marital affairs, this did not apply to women and the double standard was often controlled economically. There were harsher punishments for women politically, but the real control was the fear that the women could be turned out to the streets for being involved in such behavior. Ironically, in France, sexual equality was one of the first demands of women, which included either the demand to marry for love or the abolition of marriage altogether (Robertson 278).

            Another obstacle included the strong ties with Socialists, who shared many of the same ideas of equality of all, whether workers or women, in spite of Marx’s patriarchal attitudes in his own life (Robertson 299). By the mid 19th century, socialism became unpopular, and often women's organizations were encouraged to disallow socialist groups to be members of their own organizations (Robertson 376).

            Therefore, the system of welfare capitalism controlled both the male workers, by providing a substandard quality of life, but also the female workers, with paternal supervision, less pay, and getting in return a less violent working population. As the labor/management struggle continued and the population grew, men were forced to work for much lower pay, and women lost much of their economic power. The idea, however, had been introduced, and wealthy women, who were not as concerned with survival as their poor, industrial sisters, continued the fight from an educated, upper class standpoint to increase political power. While women did not get national suffrage in any country by 1900, they were allowed to vote in local elections in some areas of Sweden, the United States, and Australia (Women’s Suffrage 1968).

Child Labor Laws

Again, in pre-industrial times, child labor was required to contribute to the well-being of the family. The bosses, however, were parents, usually aware of the abilities of their children. In the beginning of the 19th century, childhood was not seen as a separate stage in life, but rather, children were considered miniature adults. In England, for example, a child could be hung at the age of seven (Hopkins 1). Children generally started working at 8 or 9 years old, but in some factories, children as young as 6 or 7 years old were working (Weissbach 10). In corporations, however, the bosses worked for owners who were only interested in their profitability. In this circumstance, the same dilemma of women working applied to children; they worked for less and families needed the income, but the higher-paid men did not want to forfeit their jobs.

            Childhood was not singled out, but there was growing concern that those who could not fight for themselves must be protected. In addition to concern for children, animal rights laws were passed and some penal reform was initiated. Therefore, in the mid to late 19th century, there is an overall increase in the rights of the powerless, and children were a part of that, as were workers overall and women (see above). Indeed, the concern over the abuse children suffered at work was a catalyst in the beginning of workers’rights as a whole in England (Hopkins 4). Horror stories abounded of children hurt or killed in factories (for examples, see Hareven’s Amoskeag 69, 189, 197-198). Overseers were allowed to use any means necessary to keep children working, such as beatings with just about anything: a whip, tools, fists, kicking (Hopkins 27, 28). Children were sometimes branded (Hopkins 28); even a case of branding a child’s genitals is reported (Weissbach 15), or children were forced to eat vomit or excrement (Weissbach 15). Employers claimed abuse was rare when various government agencies in France and England sent inspectors, but some admitted to beating children when they were too tired to work efficiently (Hopkins 80, Weissbach 11). Other punishments included tying children above a machine, so that the child would have to move out of the way to avoid losing a leg. This was to teach a complaining child that he could work at the pace of the machine (Hopkins 79). There were also reports of girls supplementing income with prostitution (Weissbach 13). In addition to abuse, there were medical concerns as children could get diseases from inhaling metal filings and acid vapors (Weissbach 11). Further, children had to work long hours, usually 18 hours a day. Therefore, child labor laws started to appear in industrialized countries and changed the view of childhood. At first the concern was not the abuse, but the long hours the children had to work and early legislation, such as the Ten Hour Bill in England in 1847, addressed the limits on hours at a factory instead of the management abuses. In the beginning of the 19th century, however, children employed in industry rarely worked in factories, but more often in agriculture, workshops, mines and in the manufacture of iron, where these abuses could also be observed. Legislation at first curtailed non-factory labor, but expanded to factories as they proliferated.

            The improvement in lifestyle due to the Industrial Revolution caused not only the outlawing of child labor, but also sent those children to school. Society as a whole could survive without the children working (Hopkins 38, Empey 49), and the luxury of school became both mandatory and free. This further alienated people as children were increasingly stratified by age (Empey 47). As children became better educated, however, their knowledge contributed to the advancement of industrialization. This reflects the improvement as a whole of the working class, as they improved their status in society through the movement of the low class poor, to workers with the right to vote and the means to live relatively comfortably. This excluded minorities, the very lowest classes, and girls (Empey 49). With the education of children came an education about children and by the end of the 19th century, the developmental stages of childhood were better understood (Hopkins 321, Empey 48-49).

The Role of Government for a Solution in the Worker/Management Conflict

Looking around at industrial Europe, in addition to the pollution released by factories, one could see the poverty of the exploited workers, who worked long hours, yet were barely able to feed their families. Meanwhile, in the rich neighborhoods, the owners of the factories rarely engaged in physical labor, yet had abundant luxuries. While workers fought for their rights within the capitalist system, there were new ideas about alternate ways to run an economic system. This brings the focus again to community as well as individual interests.

The Communist Manifesto

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote The Communist Manifesto while in England. It was purportedly written by a group of communists, but there is little evidence that anyone other than the two contributed. Marx had been kicked out of France and Austria and lived at the time in England, supported by Engels, who, ironically, had inherited and earned his fortune working for his father's factory in Manchester. England, being the place of origin for industrialization, was the furthest along in its pollution and exploitation of workers. The Communist Manifesto introduces itself as the formal statement of the Communist Party, whose ideas had been around and growing for decades.

            The Communist Manifesto starts with a historical account of the struggle for power and the evolution of that struggle. From feudal times to the 19th century, the rich and powerful used social stratification to control the wealth, power, and the masses. In its final stage, the categories of power had been streamlined into two basic classes: the owners of factories, or the bourgeoisie, and the workers, or the proletariat. The proletariat became slaves both to the machine and the bourgeoisie. Marx shrewdly observed the diminishing differences in gender roles, though sometimes comments in a disapproving tone (see Women’s Rights above). He also comments on the exploitation of children by their parents and proposes to end the concept of family as, of course, the bourgeoisie defines it. He viewed the bourgeois family as being “reduced to a mere money relations” (Marx 371). The idea of communism is that every person puts into the system what he or she is able. Whatever work, talent, or intelligence an individual can provide is freely given and whatever the worker, or proletariat, needs is returned. Therefore, if one has a large family or is handicapped, they will get what they need to survive, and must give what they are able. The proletariat transcends national boundaries, and Marx envisioned the workers of all nations uniting as workers, and discarding their national identities. Marx hoped to achieve this by abolishing the idea of private property, including inheritance. Marx clarified briefly that this concerned only the private property of the bourgeoisie who acquired it from the backs of laborers, and specified that artisans and peasants should be allowed theirs. The focus of abolishing private property includes the idea that the state should own all means of production, both industrial and agricultural, as well as transportation, communication, and education. This applied to the freedom of women as well, as they were considered the property of men (Robertson 299), reflected in Marx’s view of marriage as a function of the bourgeoisie (Robertson 233).

            Communists hoped to change the inherent conflict between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat in capitalism to the utopia of communism. In this way, the workers would have finally won the long fought battle for control of production and profit, and all of society would benefit to each individual’s needs. In practice, however, communist countries have not claimed to represent the ideal, but rather suggest they are moving through the necessary pre-communist phases. They have tended toward dictatorships with little incentive for workers to be productive. Another problem in practical communism is that people wanted to keep national and familial identities. Modern-day socialism, which developed in the 20^th century and is therefore outside the scope of this curriculum, utilizes aspects of both communism and capitalism working in the same system. It may be helpful to have current events, however, that touch on communism, socialism and capitalism to explain these difficult concepts.

Conclusion

Developments of the 19^th century can be viewed in the framework of the struggle for workers’rights and can include the development of industry, the control of management, migration and immigration, the workers’strikes and violence, the women’s movement, and child labor issues. Since this curriculum covers western civilization’s industrialization in the 19^th century, issues of the 20^th century have not been discussed. Further, issues that concern only one country were excluded; for example, in the United States, the topics of the temperance movement and slavery would be covered. Most European countries, however, had abolished slavery in the early 19^th century and did not outlaw alcohol. Therefore, those topics are omitted.

Implementation

These lesson plans are based on 90 minute classes. The general setup includes a journal entry to get students thinking of the daily topic in their own lives. As an alternate to a journal, students can make anonymous comments on sticky notes, which then are placed on a sheet of butcher paper. This may create a more comfortable atmosphere for students to share, and you may get wonderful comments from shy or quiet students. This leads to discussion and notes. Finally, there is an assignment meant to show the connections the students make in the lesson. Sometimes the discussion itself is the assignment and other times there is a specific assignment. There is also an assessment of the entire curriculum at the end of the unit.

            Again, the focus is the industrialization of Western civilization, although many parallels exist between the American and European industrial development.

Lesson: Defining Fairness/Justice

Course Standards: 1, 2

New Mexico Social Studies Standards: 1-D-1, 6

Students journal on the topic of fairness, examples: what is fairness, what are some personal experiences of unfairness, what examples of fairness or unfairness have you observed or heard about? Have willing students share their stories.

            Read a story about fairness. Many good tales can be found in Fair is Fair: World Folktales of Justice by Sharon Creeden. For example, The Fisherman and the King’s Chamberlain discusses reward and punishment, Whose Fault Was It? explores the chain of events that make it difficult to identify blame, or The Pear Seed, which debates justice and breaking laws when in need.

            Using class discussion, try to arrive at a definition of fairness or justice. Note any reference to unfairness or injustice, as it is difficult to define the positive without the negative concept (Finkel xiii). Ideas you may want to include: what particulars the idea of justice depends upon (e.g. culture, historical time period, context, age/development, individual perspective), “Greater Good” concept, severity, blame, and whether or not an unfairness is truly an unfairness (perspective, misfortune).

Lesson: Contributing Factors

Course Standards: 1, 11

New Mexico Social Studies Standards: 1-C-4, 12; 1-D-2; 2-E-7

Have students write in their journals about a real or fictitious chain of events. Be sure to give them an example, so that they understand the assignment. Again, you may want to look at Whose Fault Was It? in Fair is Fair: World Folktales of Justice by Sharon Creeden. After finishing, ask willing students to share their entries. Make observations about how actions are often reactions to other events.

            Hand out Table 1 if helpful to explain the events leading to the Industrial Revolution. Show how these things all interact, and how the development was a chain reaction. What does this all have to do with justice? Whom does this new industry benefit? Whom does it hurt?

            To experience the atmosphere of a factory, you may want to show the silent film Modern Times (1936, 89 minutes), a parody of the factory assembly line starring Charlie Chaplin.

            Have students then create an ad for a new invention from the 19th century. It may help to again reference Table 1 for such inventions as canned food, railroad tickets, chemical dye, inexpensive clothing, jobs at factories, apartments for rent, etc.

Lesson: Worker vs. Management

Course Standards: 1, 11

New Mexico Social Studies Standards: 1-C-4, 12; 1-D-1, 2, 6, 7; 2-A-1, 2; 2-B-1, 3, 4; 2-C-2; 2-E-3, 6, 7; 4-A-2, 3; 4-B-16

Have students write in their journals about rules they have at work, or if they don't work, what have they heard from friends, or what do they imagine those rules might be? Why does the employer have these rules? For safety? For profit? What other reasons might there be? Also, do students feel like they are justly compensated for their work in the type of work required?

Again, using Table 1, explain the undulating balance of power between the worker and management, sometimes the management has more control, sometimes workers gain some control, depending on a large variety of factors, often in a chain reaction setting (see above lesson). Use these questions for discussion: what controls are in place to keep from exploiting workers? What are owners driven by? What options do workers have? What would happen if I were to strike (teachers)? What are the consequences for me? For the students? For the community? Then do the same for students. If they were to strike, what would/could happen? What are the consequences for me (teachers)? For students? For the community? How would the media get involved? Would they be on the strikers’side or the administration's? What kinds of issues could garner public support?

            Explain the elements of a political cartoon and have students create a political cartoon characterizing the struggle between the worker/union and management. A political cartoon should have as its central idea a comparison between unlike things. To expose, for example, the injustice of a situation, students should think of other unjust situations and superimpose the political situation on the unrelated injustice. It would be helpful to have a few examples on hand. Other items a political cartoon should have include title, caption, dialogue, and some kind of visual symbolism (often a part of the comparison). This is usually a difficult assignment, so be patient and help the students understand both the content and how to look at it in a new way.

Lesson: Family, Women and Children

Course Standards: 1, 2, 11, 12

New Mexico Social Studies Standards: 1-C-4, 12; 1-D-2, 5,6, 7; 2-E-4, 6; 4-A-2, 3

Have students write in their journals on the topic of family. What do they consider family or what constitutes a family or what other connotations do they have when someone is a member of the family? Again, have willing students share.

            Read the interview of Mary Cunion in Amoskeag on page 43. She was an orphan in Scotland and came to America to live with her aunt.   Ask students what family meant to her, pointing out her difficult relationship with her sister, who “was ashamed of me” because of Mary’s accent, or her comment about how the family in America all but forgot their family in Scotland. Read also Mary Dancause on page 51. She lived with her aunt, but came back when her parents had four small children and needed her. Her father left the oldest son on the farm with the grandparents and when the son visited, the father slammed the door in his face, because he didn’t recognize his own son after so many years.   What role do extended families play? How does duty play into the family dynamics? How are these perspectives different from students’perspectives?

            Explain the changes in family, women, and children caused by the arrival and then departure of factory labor. How did this change the dynamics of family life? For whom is it fair or not fair? Also in Amoskeag are examples of women who had to be "smart" to pick out the irregularities in a cloth, but it ruined their eyes. Also noise levels are described as driving some women out of the factory. Children were required to work 18 hour days. How much time did that leave for sleep? Play? Mention the various movements to restrict working hours (see Women's Rights and Child Labor Laws above).

            Have students play a game. Tell them that they will each receive points for the day for participation. Make the point level high enough to have participation be important.

�        Choose two volunteer students who are willing to be the greedy robber barons. Give each of them 100 tokens. In order for the two robber barons to get their points for the day, they must give you 100 pages of good writing (you've got to look it over so students don't just write "blah" 100 times on the paper) in the next 50 minutes. You can substitute anything that students need about five minutes to complete for the good writing.    They will get extra credit if they have either more than 100 pages or leftover tokens.

�        For everyone else in the room, they must get at least 10 tokens to get full credit. Yes, they will get extra points if they have more tokens. If students write one page for one token every five minutes that the robber barons are buying, they will get their full points.

�        The problem is, of course, that the robber barons only need ten people to get the job done. That uses 20 students as factory workers and if you have more than 22 students in class you will have some unemployed students. It is important to have these unemployed to demonstrate the effects of a large labor pool. If you have fewer students, you can always adjust by having only one robber baron.

�        To throw in another problem, assign cards for "men," "women," and "children," and you can also include "immigrant" or "minority" so that robber barons know they can pay certain classes of people less.

�        Observe the game and see what happens. Are there ill feelings by those unemployed, or getting paid less? Is there stealing? Are welfare programs set up? Is there a strike? Beggars? Have some students just given up on society?

NOTE: it is unfair to award points based on this game, as there are not enough points for all students to get full credit. Students must BELIEVE, however, that the point system described above is for real.

�         At the end of 50 minutes, stop the game and tally the points. Give students time to protest and complain. Then reveal that all students will get participation points for the day and debrief what has just happened. Explain the parallels to the labor situation of the 19th century. Did they do their best writing? What did they care about most? If there were thieves, did they think it morally wrong to steal for "money" or "points"? What do the other students think of the theft? Would they think the same about a drug dealer who deals for grocery money (or some other modern-day comparison)? How might have the authorities have handled such lawbreakers? What is the balance of individual needs versus community welfare? What would have made our classroom game a better "society"?

This game has not yet been tested and may need some minor adjustments, for example, a police force or some government agency. To keep it as simple as possible, however, I limited it to what is above.

            Have students think of a problem someone living in the 19^th century would have. Have them write a letter to an advice column. Whom would they ask? Finally, collect and have students answer the problems of other students. Remind them it has to be time-period appropriate; there was no workman’s compensation, no right to vote for women, no CD players, etc.

Lesson: Communism

Course Standards: 1, 2, 11, 12

New Mexico Standards: 1-A-4, 12; 1-D-1, 2, 5, 6, 7; 2-E-6, 7; 4-A-2, 4-B-1, 14

In student journals, have them write 1) their understanding of communism or 2) ask what their idea of a perfect society would be like, or 3) what they think the role of government is or 4) what they would or could do if they experienced an injustice from an authority of the school (teacher, administrator, security). Have students share ideas. If asked for their utopia, observe any similarities with communism. If asked how to correct an authoritative injustice, repeat from yesterday the venues workers had (or didn’t have) available for grievances.

            Show students How the Other Half Lives. Especially poignant are the death rate chart on page 54, the cold on page 93, a sweatshop on page 98, the rent difference for African Americans on page 117, the children sleeping in the street on 152, and the homeless kids in gangs on page 157. Explain some of the survival problems the people faced and then ask students how they would propose to solve the problem. Lead them to considering if the problem was a small blemish in they way things were set up or a systematic problem. How does one solve a problem in a large organization or system?

            Suggest that one solution is to get a new system, but those that control it are not likely to just hand over the reins. Therefore, communism was one attempt to change the system. Have students read a section from The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Point out the initial violent overthrow suggested and then a community sharing system controlled by the collective, the state. Are these ideas bad? Should government control the means of production, thereby ending the dispute between workers and management? Is communism possible in a democratic society? Even though communism fell in eastern European countries, should all ideas of communism be tossed? Socialism is a modified form of communism and most Western countries have some forms of socialism, including the United States. Does it work? What could be improved? One more point is the egalitarianism of communism, which many found appealing, especially women, minorities, and factory workers. Again, practical application of communism did not develop until the 20^th century, which is beyond the scope of this curriculum, but it would be helpful to have current events to illustrate the differences of communism, socialism, and capitalism.

            One modern-day example of the spirit of communism can be seen in King Kong on 4^th Street by Jagna Wojcicka Sharff. The poor community has a sense of communalism as seen in the story of sharing bathing suits on page 100 or sharing the crabs on page 101. Point out the difference between communism, which requires this sort of sharing, and communalism, where it is social obligations that compel the members of the community to share.

Assessment

Students will create a newspaper. Ask students, what is in a newspaper? Put list on the board. What part of the newspaper goes where? Have students get in groups of 2 or four (must be an even number). Each student is responsible for one page in the newspaper, but 2 or 4 pages go together for one paper. Remind students that they articles and opinions must be time specific; for example the advice column should reflect the times, as should obituaries, opinions, ads and the other items that appear in a paper. Students would have at this time already completed a political cartoon and an advice column letter.

Standards

This unit will address the following standards:

COURSE EXIT STANDARDS:

1. Upon completion of this course students will: speak concisely and listen actively to interact in a         cooperative and constructive manner showing respect for other viewpoints and cultures.

2.   identify a variety of world literature from differing sources and perspectives, and identify themes that recur in literature and relate them to historical context.

11. analyze and evaluate the characteristics of the modern world through the Enlightenment,
      recognize revolution and its consequences, and analyze progress and change through
      industrialization in the 19^th century.

12. illustrate the connections between art, architecture, literature, historical concepts, geography,
      music, and language arts.

And New Mexico State Standards (http://sde.state.nm.us):

Content Standard 1: History: Students are able to identify important people and events in order to analyze significant patterns, relationships, themes, ideas, beliefs, and turning points in New Mexico, United States, and world history in order to understand the complexity of the human experience.

C: World: Analyze and interpret the major eras and important turning points in world history from the Age of Enlightenment to the present to develop an understanding of the complexity of the human experience.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

4.   Analyze the pattern of historical change as evidenced by the Industrial Revolution, to include:

�        conditions that promoted industrialization

�        how scientific and technological innovations brought about change

�        impact of population changes (e.g., population growth, rural-to-urban migrations, growth of industrial cities, emigration out of Europe)

�        evolution of work/business and the role of labor (e.g., the demise of slavery, division of labor, union movement, impact of immigration)

�        political and economic theories of capitalism and socialism (e.g., Adam Smith, Karl Marx)

�        status and roles of women and minorities.

12. Explain how world history presents a framework of knowledge and skills within which to understand the complexity of the human experience, to include:

�        analyze perspectives that have shaped the structures of historical knowledge

�        describe ways historians study the past

�        explain connections made between the past and the present and their impact.

D: Skills: Use critical thinking skills to understand and communicate perspectives of individuals, groups, and societies from multiple contexts.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

1. Understand how to use the skills of historical analysis to apply to current social, political, geographic, and economic issues.

2. Apply chronological and spatial thinking to understand the importance of events.

5. Distinguish “facts” from authors’opinions and evaluate an author’s implicit and

explicit philosophical assumptions, beliefs, or biases about the subject.

6.   Interpret events and issues based upon the historical, economic, political, social, and geographic context of the participants.

7.   Analyze the evolution of particular historical and contemporary perspectives.

Content Standard 2: Geography: Students understand how physical, natural, and cultural processes influence where people live, the ways in which people live, and how societies interact with one another and their environments.

A: Analyze and evaluate the characteristics and purposes of geographic tools, knowledge, skills, and perspectives, and apply them to explain the past, present, and future in terms of patterns, events, and issues.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

1. Evaluate and select appropriate geographic representations to analyze and explain natural and man-made issues and problems.

2. Understand the vocabulary and concepts of spatial interaction, including an analysis of population distributions and settlements patterns.

B: Analyze natural and man-made characteristics of worldwide locales; describe regions, their interrelationships, and patterns of change.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

1. Analyze the interrelationships among natural and human processes that shape the geographic connections and characteristics of regions, including connections among economic development, urbanization, population growth, and environmental change.

3.   Analyze and evaluate changes in regions and recognize the patterns and causes of those changes (e.g., mining, tourism).

4. Analyze and evaluate why places and regions are important to human identity (e.g., sacred tribal grounds, culturally unified neighborhoods).

C: Analyze the impact of people, places, and natural environments upon the past and present in terms of our ability to plan for the future.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

2. Compare and contrast how different viewpoints influence policy regarding the use and management of natural resources.

E: Analyze and evaluate how economic, political, cultural, and social processes interact to shape patterns of human populations, and their interdependence, cooperation, and conflict.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

2.   Analyze the effects of geographic factors on major events in United States and world history.

3.   Analyze the interrelationships among settlement, migration, population-distribution patterns, landforms, and climates in developing and developed countries.

4. Analyze how cooperation and conflict are involved in shaping the distribution of political, social and economic factors in New Mexico, United States, and throughout the world (e.g., land grants, border issues, United States territories, Israel and the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, and Sub-Saharan Africa).

6.   Analyze how differing points of view and self-interest play a role in conflict over territory and resources (e.g., impact of culture, politics, strategic locations, resources).

7.   Evaluate the effects of technology on the developments, changes to, and interactions of cultures.

Content Standard 4: Economics:: Students understand basic economic principles and use economic reasoning skills to analyze the impact of economic systems (including the market economy) on individuals, families, businesses, communities, and governments.

A: Analyze the ways individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies make decisions, are influenced by incentives (economic and intrinsic) and the availability and use of scarce resources and that their choices involve costs and varying ways of allocating.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

2.   Understand how socioeconomic stratification (SES) arises and how it affects human motivation, using data.

3.   Understand the relationship between socioeconomic stratification and cultural values.

B: Analyze and evaluate how economic systems impact the way individuals, households, businesses, governments, and societies make decisions about resources and the production and distribution of goods and services.

Ninth-Twelfth Grade:

1.    Analyze the historic origins of the economic systems of capitalism, socialism, and communism.

14. Compare, analyze, and evaluate the positive and negative aspects of American capitalism in relationship to other economic systems.

16. Analyze the reasons for uneven economic growth-based changes (e.g., demographic, political, economic).

Documentation

Bellis, Mary. "Industrial Revolution: Timeline of the Textile Industry." 2002. About Homework Help. 10. Jun. 2002 <www.inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blindustrialrevolutiontextiles.htm>

Dulles, Foster Rhea and Melvyn Dubofsky. Labor in America: a History, Fourth Edition. Arlington Heights: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1984.

Edwards, Richard. Contested Terrain: The Transformation of the Workplace in the Twentieth Century. New York, Basic Books, Inc., Publishers, 1979.

Empey, Lamar T. American Delinquency: Its Meaning and Construction. Homewood: The Dorsey Press, 1982.

Finkel, Norman J. Not Fair! The Typology of Commonsense Unfairness. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2001.

Gelbard, Alene and Carl Haub and Mary M. Kent. "World Population Beyond Six Billion." Population Bulletin, Vol 54, No. March 1999. Population Reference Bureau.